Ken Bernhardt is the Regents’ Professor of Marketing and Assistant Dean for Corporate Relations for Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. Ken is a personal friend, sits on our advisory board and is overall one of the smartest people I know. He is also a frequent contributer to the Atlanta Business Chronicle and you can find some of his most recent articles here. I spent some time with him recently and asked him to share his thoughts on a few subjects.

What role do you see interactive marketing playing in the overall marketing mix over the next few years?

As the traditional marketing media continue to slowly lose impact, interactive media will become much more important. A number of major consumer marketing companies are already reallocating their media budgets away from traditional media, and many others are exploring alternatives to the way they have been advertising. Interactive marketing should be the big winner in this reallocation due to its many advantages over current mass media vehicles.

What do you make of the recent acquisitions by Microsoft and Google to get deeper into the online media/advertising space?

These are two companies that everyone pays attention to as industry leaders. They have both been positioning themselves to take advantage of the trend away from traditional media vehicles and toward interactive media. As my old track coach used to say, “the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack.” Thus their activity should accelerate the trends already happening.

What are your thoughts on the ability of large corporations to embrace social media?

Large companies are often the least able to respond to trends in the market place. They tend to be conservative, with many layers of approval for major shifts in strategy. Thus, I expect them to be followers rather than leaders in responding to the increase in usage of social media. There are always exceptions to this observation, and companies who have target markets that are younger and more innovative will be the early adopters of this new medium.

Let’s talk about the “green” movement that many companies are embracing. Why do you think this is such a hot topic for corporations?

Companies tend to respond to those things their target market customers are interested in, and there is no doubt that consumers are more interested in being seen as green. The surprise hit of the Al Gore movie is just one example illustrating consumers’ interest in environmental issues. The increase in availability of hybrid cars has enabled consumers to make a statement about their concern for the environment. We have seen an increase in environmental concern, not only attitudinally, but behaviorally as well. The key is to make the products without negatives for the consumer. For example, many consumers are concerned with healthy eating, but they are not willing to trade off taste. The same is true for environmentally favorable products - - they can’t have disadvantages vs. less environmentally friendly alternatives. that’s the biggest reason why people didn’t buy phosphate free detergent a few years ago - - it didn’t get the clothes as clean as the brands they had been using. The hybrid car market has demonstrated that consumers will pay a little more to help the environment but won’t give up comfort, style, etc. I think a lot of research is being conducted today by companies trying to determine how to appeal to environmentally concerned consumers.

Have you seen any companies that are doing a really good job of marketing their green efforts?

UPS has invested big dollars in making their fleet more environmentally friendly. Home Depot has added many products to the offerings that are green and have put up signage informing consumers of these alternatives. Some of the fast food companies are reevaluating their packaging, especially with respect to things like foam cups. And certainly Toyota has been on top of this trend, recently stating that they plan to produce 1 million hybrid cars a year in the very near future.